JDRF went there! They posted a full size ad in the Washington Post and the NY Times with the following:

Piper has type 1 diabetes.

One in twenty people like Piper

will die from low blood sugar.

In fact, kids and adults are dying every day from low

blood sugar or complications caused by type 1 diabetes.

In the next few weeks, the FDA has a chance to show

it is leading the world in medical innovation, not

standing in its way. It will lay out the pathway to bring to

market the first artificial pancreas, a life saving technology now under development, and the most revolutionary treatment in diabetes since the discovery of insulin. Three million kids, teens, and adults with type 1

diabetes are counting on the FDA to get it right.

Our lives and health are at stake.

www.jdrf.org

I don't know about the rest of the world but the diabetes online community certainly took notice!

Wow!

What are your feelings on that ad? I've seen some really mixed responses on Facebook, CWD and Twitter.

Not that you asked but here is my opinion ----

It is what it is. This is my life. The people that are closest to me in real life still ask me why I'm so tired all of the time, why I still check Nate throughout the night, and why I check his BS so frequently. Well, friends ---- 1 in 20. That is why.

The ad honestly didn't scare me. I'm not going to bed tonight any more worried than I was last night. I've known the risks of type 1 for a while and although I certainly don't dwell on them they are always there.

I say kudos to JDRF for being bold today! I do not think they were trying to scare the T1 community --- I honestly believe they were trying to wake up the rest of the world. The world that thinks that diabetes is no big deal. The world that doesn't know any of the complications from T1 diabetes. Most importantly I believe they were sending a loud and clear message to the FDA because they have the ability to hold back progress or move it forward and bring life saving technology to the United States.

So I say be bold JDRF ---- let the FDA know they can save the lives of those with Type 1 Diabetes.

Be Bold.

1 in 20.

From Jeffrey Brewer

Estimates of the number of people with T1D who die from hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) range from 2% - 10%. Therefore, 1 in 20, or 5% is a conservative estimate roughly in the middle of this range.

Specifically, several publications by Philip E. Cryer, MD on hypoglycemia[1],[2],[3] cite estimates of death due to hypoglycemia in patients with type 1 diabetes. Older estimates were that 2% to 4%[4],[5],[6] of patients with type 1 diabetes die from hypoglycemia and more recent estimates are that 6%[7], 7%[8], or 10%[9] of those with type 1 diabetes die from hypoglycemia.

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comments:

I couldn't have said it better myself Laura! The rest of the world needs to know....I think too often people think that if we're doing what we're supposed complications (including hypoglycemic coma or death) won't happen....but it does happen even despite "doing it all right". I'm glad they ran the ad. I had a few FB friends that don't typically share my D-related posts that shared the ad....so grateful they took notice and it meant a lot to me that they shared it!

I love this ad. It hits it home just how serious T1 is. I think because of the large number of T2s (who don't deal with this issue), T1s get ignored. People think that because we have insulin (and now fancy pumps and CGMs) that we're ok. Reality could not be further from the truth. Every day is a struggle to keep BGs in a range compatible with human life.

This ad made my eyes tear up. It is something I know and keep at bay most days to survive and to be the best parent and pancreas I can be. That fear is always there and it will never go away but it doesn't mean I let it rule our lives!! The ad makes my eyes tear up with a weird kind of happiness that the the JDRF had the balls to put it out there. There is no sugar coating this disease and I am glad to see them laying it out, naked and truthful. People need to know.